My love of hand forms has developed gradually over the years. I smile now as I think back to those first 2 years in Kung Fu. Taxing my brain with learning and remembering Da Mu Hsing and then trying to incorporate both hands. My lack of coordination would have been almost comical if I hadn't been so frustrated at times. I remember Sifu Playter helping me with the arm circles in what was known as Kempo at the time and thought that I would never get the proper motion. Thank goodness for determination. If only instructors came with a pause button and a slowwwww motion feature! The Livestream videos we have now are a great addition! Coordination and memory are stumbling blocks for me so extra time and effort is always needed. Once I understand what I need to be doing, I then go home and work on it repetitively until it feels good and is cemented in my brain. And that sometimes takes an hour or more on just one little sequence. But so worth it in the end!
I remember being an orange belt and feeling like I would never move past orange. "Forever orange", I would say! And then finally a green belt! "Wow, now I'm on my way." Well, that was true, I was on my way. Just not the way I envisioned the journey to go. I ran into some blocks that had me feeling like I was up against a wall. It was perseverance and determination that kept me in the game. At the level of green belt there were so many gems of knowledge being discovered. I recall centering and shoulders being part of the equation and working on using both sides in 7 knife hands to help propel me forward. Then came blue belt and now blue belt feels a bit like the new orange, but with less frustration. Having the experience of orange and green belts in my tool box, I now have more understanding of the process and journey and am less focused on the destination.
Golden keys of knowledge are tossed to us all the time. Some keys just sail past us and others are recognized but not applied or fully understood. I remember finally applying a key in relation to the shoulders and the six harmonies. I had mentioned this aha moment to Sifu Rybak and also noted that this key of knowledge had been given many times over the years before being able to finally grasp it and unlock the vault. See..., the vault needs to be in the correct time and place to accept the key. I can only imagine how challenging and yet rewarding it must be as an instructor.
By the time I earned my blue belt I could not have imagined the extent of how much more was to be discovered as I work towards brown. I know that our forms are one of the most important aspects of our training and we are told numerous times how they transfer over to all other aspects of our Kung Fu. Sifu Rybak has told me that she can see the transfer and improvement. I however had not felt this to the same degree until recently. It is easier to watch someone else and see the changes and improvement than recognize it in ourselves. It was just these past few weeks that I feel myself becoming more aware of concepts and truths from my forms transferring over to other areas of my Kung Fu. Sometimes that transfer happens automatically and other times I have experienced it as a mental awareness that occurs in the moment.
There is this amazing feeling I get when things click. Internally and externally. Compression, expansion, ease of movement, flow and power. All is right in the world of Kung Fu even if it is just for a second or more. As we advance, more and more knowledge becomes available and I look forward to even more discoveries.
Namaste
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